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Put your money where you mouth is. Buy American. A business owner tested if customers would pay more for American-made. The results were 'sobering.' (1 Viewer)

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bongsaway

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We are so full of shit as a nation we even lie to ourselves.

  • Ramon van Meer wanted to see whether people would buy a Made-in-USA version of his specialty shower head.
  • He found it would cost three times as much to produce — and raised the sale price by 85%.
  • After several days of testing, zero customers bought the USA model.
As a small-business owner, Ramon van Meer says he's used to hearing people say they'd be willing to pay more for products made in America.

When President Donald Trump ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods by an additional 145%, van Meer decided to see whether shoppers would put their money where their mouth is.

 
Righties and Trumpers are all blather. They will say one thing publicly or on a debate forum, and do something else out there in the real world.
They KNOW prices on American made goods will be more expensive, and they KNOW prices on foreign made goods will go up in price, and if this was going to happen under a Democratic administration, they would be losing their minds.

BUT............ once you get sucked into a cult, the cult leader can NOT do any wrong. So any inanity that Trump promotes is gospel to that lot.
 
The ongoing success of companies like Amazon, Temu, and AliExpress tells me all I need to know where “Buy American” is concerned. Americans couldn’t care less where something is made as long as the price is low enough for them.

The ship carrying “Made in the U.S.A.” as a selling point sailed away long ago. It’s fantasy for anyone to wave a flag, claim they’re a patriot, and that they only buy American goods.
 
btthegreat said:
Of course not. Americans are capitalists. Capitalists do not like paying more, particularly when they have already been doing it over and over and over the last time they went grocery shopping..
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And high prices at the grocery store are the fault of whom? We want others to pay our prices but we apparently do not like paying our prices. We aren't capitalists, we are greedy. We want the most for the least.
 
bongsaway said:
And high prices at the grocery store are the fault of whom? We want others to pay our prices but we apparently do not like paying our prices. We aren't capitalists, we are greedy. We want the most for the least.
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Is that greed, or just frugal?
 
That guy sold 32 million dollars worth of dog ramps. He's either a master self-promoter marketeer or he's totally full of BS. I would guess that it's both.
 
The 1950’s and 1960’s aren’t coming back. We don’t want those shitty jobs back. We cannot manufacture things very cheaply here.
 
bongsaway said:
And high prices at the grocery store are the fault of whom? We want others to pay our prices but we apparently do not like paying our prices. We aren't capitalists, we are greedy. We want the most for the least.
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Wanting the most for least is capitalism. Wanting everything for nothing would be greed.

We are capitalists. When a proclaimed anti-capitalist sells his home for not the highest bid, but what the government says it's worth, then he will not be a capitalist.

There will always be greed. Greed exists irrespective of economic systems. Income/wealth inequality has been a human problem since antiquity. While there are many Elon Musk's, there are also many billionaires concerned with more than power and their bank account. I can take some solace in comparing Elon Musk to another one of the world's most hated men, John D. Rockefeller. That gilded age ended poorly, but it did end.

The union worker who wants a raise and vacation time wants more for less. Union workers are no less capitalists than the CEO's above them.

You could go back to the marketplace in ancient Egypt and the scene would be identical. Customers bargaining and merchants competing. More for less is the history of human development.
 
Michael Cole said:
Wanting the most for least is capitalism. Wanting everything for nothing would be greed.

We are capitalists. When a proclaimed anti-capitalist sells his home for not the highest bid, but what the government says it's worth, then he will not be a capitalist.

There will always be greed. Greed exists irrespective of economic systems. Income/wealth inequality has been a human problem since antiquity. While there are many Elon Musk's, there are also many billionaires concerned with more than power and their bank account. I can take some solace in comparing Elon Musk to another one of the world's most hated men, John D. Rockefeller. That gilded age ended poorly, but it did end.

The union worker who wants a raise and vacation time wants more for less. Union workers are no less capitalists than the CEO's above them.

You could go back to the marketplace in ancient Egypt and the scene would be identical. Customers bargaining and merchants competing. More for less is the history of human development.
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So start buying American to support what's comes out of the mouths of those on the right.
 
bongsaway said:
So start buying American to support what's comes out of the mouths of those on the right.
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I'm not defending MAGA. Cults are subservient to their leaders' intelligence and knowledge. Mussolini was a deeply ideological leader. Trump has no ideology. It's a cult of incompetent ignorant insanity.

That said, capitalism isn't our enemy. Greed can be, but attempts to associate greed with capitalism miss the point.

The golden age for the middle-class was post WWII. Most industrialized labor was unionized, and the rise in income for those in the '50s through '70s was invested in property. We've always been capitalists, and sometimes, perhaps, well-placed greed can be beneficial.

There may be a fine line between ambition and greed, but at the populist level, one person's greed is another person's college tuition. If an argument is presented concerning generational wealth, then the neighbor who also owns a rental property is doing just that.

MAGA are inconsistent and incoherent on economic matters. They'll change their tune once the layoffs hit home. Once small businesses close shop.

Biden had the economy screaming. Harris would have continued along the same path.

As a side note, I just watched Trump's speech. As usual, he made no sense.
 
Trying to manufacture most goods in America is like a dog chasing it's own tail.

Workers would have to be paid fair market wages with benefits. That's going to raise the price of the products to such high levels that consumers won't be able to afford to buy as much. The only way to increase sales would be to pay workers even more so they have the money to buy more things. But to do that the prices of goods would have to rise even more. (Inflation)

The inevitable result is a slow-down of buying. That leads to a recession.

The problem Dysfunctional Donald faces is the basic fact that the American economy is based on buying goods manufactured with cheaper foreign labor.

The only other way to manufacture in America would be to use AI robots instead of American labor. The problem with that is it extracts wealth out of consumers buying products, but it does not provide consumers with any wealth with which to make purchases.

That also leads to a recession.

Dysfunctional Donald wants to ignore this basic relationship because he thinks taxing imports is a way to get 'free money.' Dysfunctional Donald has never had enough self-confidence in his own abilities to earn money through fair dealing. Instead, he thinks the way to get ahead is by taking advantage of somebody else. He would rather seek the 'free money' from taking advantage of someone else's misfortune than to earn his own way by providing something of value in a fair trade.

Dysfunctional Donald never valued fair trade. He wants to benefit from unfair trade. He wants to use the threat of force and power to try to unfairly extract the wealth of other nations by forcing them into bad trade deals. Dysfunctional Donald doesn't care what happens to other nations if he can manage to rip them off in the lopsided trade deals he is attempting to push through.

Dysfunctional Donald is willing to squander the good name of the USA in an effort to try to force other nations into disadvantageous trade deals, all the while ignoring the fact that when added tariffs are applied to products, the prices of those products go up. No matter what Dysfunctional Donald does, he can't get around this fact, which is leading to a US economic recession.

Dysfunctional Donald can't understand that there is no free money here.

If he forces these trade deals, product prices will rise, and it will hurt the American economy.
 
Peacenik said:
Trying to manufacture most goods in America is like a dog chasing it's own tail.

Workers would have to be paid fair market wages with benefits. That's going to raise the price of the products to such high levels that consumers won't be able to afford to buy as much. The only way to increase sales would be to pay workers even more so they have the money to buy more things. But to do that the prices of goods would have to rise even more. (Inflation)

The inevitable result is a slow-down of buying. That leads to a recession.

The problem Dysfunctional Donald faces is the basic fact that the American economy is based on buying goods manufactured with cheaper foreign labor.

The only other way to manufacture in America would be to use AI robots instead of American labor. The problem with that is it extracts wealth out of consumers buying products, but it does not provide consumers with any wealth with which to make purchases.

That also leads to a recession.

Dysfunctional Donald wants to ignore this basic relationship because he thinks taxing imports is a way to get 'free money.' Dysfunctional Donald has never had enough self-confidence in his own abilities to earn money through fair dealing. Instead, he thinks the way to get ahead is by taking advantage of somebody else. He would rather seek the 'free money' from taking advantage of someone else's misfortune than to earn his own way by providing something of value in a fair trade.

Dysfunctional Donald never valued fair trade. He wants to benefit from unfair trade. He wants to use the threat of force and power to try to unfairly extract the wealth of other nations by forcing them into bad trade deals. Dysfunctional Donald doesn't care what happens to other nations if he can manage to rip them off in the lopsided trade deals he is attempting to push through.

Dysfunctional Donald is willing to squander the good name of the USA in an effort to try to force other nations into disadvantageous trade deals, all the while ignoring the fact that when added tariffs are applied to products, the prices of those products go up. No matter what Dysfunctional Donald does, he can't get around this fact, which is leading to a US economic recession.

Dysfunctional Donald can't understand that there is no free money here.

If he forces these trade deals, product prices will rise, and it will hurt the American economy.
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Can't improve on this post.
 
bongsaway said:
We are so full of shit as a nation we even lie to ourselves.

  • Ramon van Meer wanted to see whether people would buy a Made-in-USA version of his specialty shower head.
  • He found it would cost three times as much to produce — and raised the sale price by 85%.
  • After several days of testing, zero customers bought the USA model.
As a small-business owner, Ramon van Meer says he's used to hearing people say they'd be willing to pay more for products made in America.

When President Donald Trump ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods by an additional 145%, van Meer decided to see whether shoppers would put their money where their mouth is.

Click to expand...
Given the costs of living these days paying 85% more for an object you use for a few minutes each day is a somewhat extreme test case.
 
SNOWFLAKE said:
Righties and Trumpers are all blather. They will say one thing publicly or on a debate forum, and do something else out there in the real world.
They KNOW prices on American made goods will be more expensive, and they KNOW prices on foreign made goods will go up in price, and if this was going to happen under a Democratic administration, they would be losing their minds.

BUT............ once you get sucked into a cult, the cult leader can NOT do any wrong. So any inanity that Trump promotes is gospel to that lot.
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Just stop! You now damned well this attitude is shared by Americans of all political persuasians, not just MAGA.

I've made this point to just about everyone who complains to me about Walmart super-stores moving into smaller towns and driving local store owners out of business. "If you really cared you'd have supported those local businesses all along but you didn't. Stop whining!"
 
Ganondagan said:
"If you really cared you'd have supported those local businesses all along but you didn't. Stop whining!"
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Good thing you don't know a thing about me. Like I seldom shop at Walmart and DO support local business. But if your snide aside helped to boost your ego, go for it. I am not that thin skinned.
 
SNOWFLAKE said:
Good thing you don't know a thing about me. Like I seldom shop at Walmart and DO support local business. But if your snide aside helped to boost your ego, go for it. I am not that thin skinned.
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You may not be thin skinned but you do display a lack of knowledge and extreme arrogance.

The comment I made was not directed to you specifically.
 
Ganondagan said:
You may not be thin skinned but you do display a lack of knowledge and extreme arrogance.

The comment I made was not directed to you specifically.
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Yet, apparently, after rebuking you, you have now demonstrated how thin skinned you are. Sheesh. :rolleyes:
 
BabaVoss said:
The 1950’s and 1960’s aren’t coming back. We don’t want those shitty jobs back. We cannot manufacture things very cheaply here.
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Maybe. We can strike child labor laws and and minimum wage requirements, have 10 year olds working for $3/hr.
 
Airyaman said:
Maybe. We can strike child labor laws and and minimum wage requirements, have 10 year olds working for $3/hr.
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They may be doing that in Florida already.
 
Using tariffs to get more goods made here will skyrocket prices, which will lower sales, which will lead to the US being more like the low-wage countries, poorer. The rest of the world will prosper as they practice trade with each other. But that poverty in the US will help further increase oligarchy and authoritarian politics. That could lead to a revolt for left economics, but that assumes people will have the right to vote that to power.
 
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